Courage To Believe (Cowboys of Courage 2)

by Charlene Bright

  As the man strode away and Eric rolled her into the facility, Gillian wished she had her cell phone on her. She needed to make a few calls herself while she had a moment or two of relative privacy. Aunt Carrie and Uncle Roger would be there at any moment, and she wouldn’t have a moment’s peace from that point forward. It was going to be difficult to achieve her goal, but she’d find a way, regardless of her situation.

  Chapter 12

  It seemed like days later instead of hours as Gillian’s aunt and uncle wheeled her out of the clinic. Her ankle was booted; a hairline fracture was the culprit of the pain and swelling, but at least it hadn’t warranted a cast. She was irritable now, though. Her stomach was growling, her head hurt, and despite the pain meds she was on, her whole leg was throbbing. They had poked and prodded enough to cause some serious issues for her, and Gillian wanted nothing more than a good meal and a warm bed.

  Okay, that wasn’t exactly accurate. She wanted that food prepared by a certain chef and the warmth in the bed to come from a particular coordinator on the county Search and Rescue team.

  Instead, she was blocking out Aunt Carrie’s lecture. She’d been on a tangent for the last ten minutes, and if Gillian had to venture a guess, she’d say her aunt would be continuing in this vein for at least another fifteen. Gillian knew she’d made a mistake going out last night, but no one could have predicted a rattlesnake spooking the horse. Besides, she wanted to tell her aunt about people living in glass houses and throwing stones. After all, they were the ones who had saddled her up and sent her down the trail.

  With a sigh, she rubbed her temples and cut Aunt Carrie off. “I know what you’re saying, Aunt Carrie, and I’m sorry. I can’t change what happened, but it’s over and everything turned out okay. I think my injury is punishment enough. I’m a grown-up, and I don’t need a lesson. What I need is to eat and sleep off this headache.”

  She glanced up at the older woman, whose expression was shocked. Her mouth worked as she tried to find the words to express her rage, but before she could say anything, Uncle Roger grabbed her arm and interrupted, “Let it go, Carrie. She’s right. What’s done is done, and she’s an adult. And we didn’t try to stop her last night, you know.”

  Gillian was grateful for her uncle in that moment. She wasn’t all that close to Uncle Roger, but she felt like she’d underestimated him all this time. She would tell him as much later. For now, she didn’t have the energy to get into something so sentimental. She was exhausted, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

  And yet, she couldn’t stand the thought of actually resting. She had a one-track mind, and she couldn’t seem to change that track. Lucas Graham was an all-consuming topic of thought, and against her better judgment, she wanted to know more about him.

  As her uncle helped her into the car and Aunt Carrie huffed and climbed into her seat, she asked, “Do you guys know your neighbors pretty well now?”

  “We’re acquainted,” her aunt snapped.

  Uncle Roger settled behind the steering wheel and glanced back at her through the rearview mirror. “We’ve gotten to know a couple of them. We’re still getting ourselves settled, though, so we haven’t exactly made ourselves the active part of the community we want to be eventually.”

  Trying to sound curious rather than obsessed, Gillian asked, “Do you know much about Garrett and Shakota?”

  “They’re great people. Garrett’s the sheriff, and apparently, he’s been here his whole life. Everyone says he’s a great guy and a self-made man. Those two have something special. That woman’s tribe is very protective, and it’s my understanding they don’t often leave the reservation to be with someone outside the tribe.” It was almost amusing that her uncle was more willing to gossip than her aunt, though to be fair, Aunt Carrie was pouting.

  Well, that spoke well of Garrett, Gillian supposed. Of course, she’d gotten nothing but good vibes from either one of those two, and she’d expected to hear something of the kind. “And what about Lucas Graham, the guy who rescued me?”

  Gillian’s aunt snorted, and it caught Gillian’s attention, but she also didn’t miss the warning glance her uncle sent the older woman’s way. He talked as he let the car ramble down the road slowly. “Lucas’s a really good man. He dedicates his life to others, and he’s working hard to build the ranch he’s always wanted. He’s had it hard with his family being unsupportive, but he’s fought through it all and come out successful on the other side.”

  That was interesting. Of course, Gillian doubted anyone knew about Lucas’s financial troubles. He was too proud to let on that he was under the gun. And now she had more questions. “What do you mean, his family isn’t supportive?”

  She saw Uncle Roger scowl. “I don’t know the specifics, but I guess they thought the ranch was a stupid idea, wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer or something. As far as I know, neither of them never did anything that got them out of a trailer park.”

  So it wasn’t pride that kept Lucas from asking his family for money. Gillian hated hearing that. While the man had his flaws, Lucas certainly didn’t deserve to be disrespected and downright ignored like that. Now more than ever she wanted to find an answer to Lucas’s financial troubles.

  When her uncle didn’t turn off at the mountain road, Gillian asked, “Where are you going?”

  He shrugged. “I thought since we were already down here, and I’m sure your aunt is as hungry as you and I are based on her attitude…” He glanced playfully at the older woman, who shot daggers at him with her glare. “I wanted to take you to the diner. Besides, we need to get a couple of groceries anyway.”

  He kept the car rolling forward into the “downtown” area, passing Walt’s Grocer and pulling into a parking space across from the Main Street Diner. As she reluctantly took the crutches from her uncle, Gillian could see why they hadn’t parked in front. Apparently, it was a very busy night, and there were no parking spaces. In fact, it looked like there was a wait for a table in what seemed to be the only local establishment for eating out.

  At least two dozen people were milling around outside, half of them smoking, and several more stood just inside the door. Gazing through the window, Gillian noted that all the tables were full, which wasn’t that difficult considering how small the place was. Whoever owned it really needed to annex the vacant space next door and renovate it for expansion.

  “You know, Uncle Roger, we don’t have to eat out if there’s a long wait. I’m not that spoiled to city life. I can cook, and I can eat homemade meals.”

  “There’s never a long wait,” he protested, though Gillian saw her aunt ready to argue that they should just go home. What was wrong with Aunt Carrie? Had she really gotten her feelings that hurt when Uncle Roger had taken Gillian’s side about the lecture?

  And interestingly enough, there was no wait at all. Once they were up to the front of the restaurant, a table cleared, and a waitress signaled to a couple to take it. The couple glanced at each other and then turned to Uncle Roger. “Hey, man, we’ll take the next one. I hear your niece just got out of the clinic. Why don’t you go ahead?”

  Gillian’s uncle nodded his thanks, and for a minute, she expected the crowd to riot. But no one seemed to mind holding for one extra table just because some poor girl got herself lost in the woods and injured. This really was a tightly-knit community, considering she didn’t think her aunt and uncle were the most sociable of people.

  At the table, they instantly received glasses of water and a basket of yeast rolls that smelled delicious and proved to taste even better. By now, Gillian was ravenous, and she wolfed down two of the rolls before she even realized there were no menus. “So, how do I know what I can order?” she asked, looking around.

  “Lou or one of her wait staff will come and tell you what’s available tonight,” her uncle explained. “They usually have three or four entrees, one of which is always either meatloaf or chicken and dumplings.” So this really was a country diner, where you didn’t get an extensiv
e menu and you pretty much ordered the house special and ate whatever it came with.

  “Well, well, we never get to see you down here. How’re the newcomers and the lost girl?” The woman was your typical television diner waitress: older with a little too much makeup and what Gillian thought of as the “invasion of privacy” expression.

  “We’ve had quite a day, Lou,” Uncle Roger told her with a bright smile. “I don’t think you’ve met Gillian.”

  “I have now!” Lou gave her that gum-chewing grin with her hands on her hips. “Other than the terrible weather and the worse doctors, how do you like our little town?”

  Suddenly, Gillian liked the woman, even if she was nosy and cliché. “It’s actually really nice. I sort of like how everyone knows each other, and I have to say the scenery is beautiful. There are pretty places in Richmond, but here, everything is gorgeous.”

  “Great! You should stick around and create an advertising campaign around that so we get more tourist traffic coming through here.”

  “Oh, Lou, you aren’t hurting for business,” Aunt Carrie said, and Gillian noted the words dripped with sarcasm. “You can’t even keep up.”

  “Tourists tend to come through during the slow times,” Lou argued good-naturedly. Changing the subject, she turned back to Gillian with a genuine smile. “So, I’ve got the best coffee and tea – sweet and unsweet – in the county. Or, I keep Coke and Diet on the fountain. I can get you just about anything else in a can.”

  “I’ll take a sweet tea, I think.”

  “Wonderful. Roger, Carrie?” They ordered coffee, and Lou turned back to Gillian. “We’ve got Lou’s Loaf tonight, which is my signature meat loaf topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions and my special creamed corn sauce. It comes with home-style green beans, fried okra, and mashed potatoes with brown gravy. I’ve also got pan fried trout with seasoned rice, pinto beans, and fried okra. Or there’s a T-bone steak you can smother with onions and mushrooms. It comes with green beans, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and brown gravy, and homemade applesauce. All the dishes come with a house salad or cup of broccoli cheese soup and garlic bread.”

  Gillian’s mind was spinning, and her stomach was going to eat her from the inside out. Her mouth watered as she tried to choose. She was about to order the steak when she heard a familiar laugh and glanced to her right. There sat Lucas, and Gillian’s jaw dropped. Of all the places to run into him! Trying to satisfy Lou and her aunt and uncle by not taking too long, she stammered, “I’ll take the meat loaf with a salad and ranch. But no onions or mushrooms, please.”

  “Gotcha,” she heard Lou say, but she wasn’t paying any attention anymore. She had just caught sight of the party with Lucas at the small table about twenty feet away. The woman was pretty, if a little tired and worn. She had a bright smile and obviously adored Lucas. The way she reached across the table to hold his hand spoke volumes.

  And Lucas’s reaction to her had Gillian astonished. How could she have even considered getting involved with that man in any way? He was eating up the attention this woman gave him, and he was doting on her with a gleam in his eye that definitely hadn’t appeared when Gillian had been with him. He clasped her hand inside his and rubbed his thumb over the back of it in a loving caress, and Gillian’s chest nearly exploded, between the crushed hope in her heart and the complete outrage in her veins.

  Getting up on her crutches and maneuvering through the crowded space with the tables packed almost too close together, Gillian made her way to the little booth. Lucas didn’t even look up at her until she cleared her throat, and he stared at her like he had no idea who she was.

  Gillian hoped her glare cut right through him and left his nether regions burning in a very unpleasant way. “How big of a fool do you take me for, Lucas? How many people were in on all this? Is that what you meant by being a close community, that everyone here would cover for you with any floozy who came into town? Or worse, helped you lie to this lovely woman you’ve disrespected behind her back?”

  Chapter 13

  Lucas didn’t know whether to laugh or fume. On one hand, Gillian Grayson had just humiliated herself in front of half the town and would have to do the walk – or hobble, as it were – of shame back to her table. On the other, Lucas didn’t like being put on blast when half the town was here, listening to the outraged lecture Gillian had just given him.

  Clearing his throat and purposely glancing around the much quieter diner so Gillian would notice the attention she’d drawn, he smiled broadly. “Gillian, it’s good to see you’ve gotten your ankle taken care of.” He turned his body more fully to face her as he continued, “I’m not sure what makes you think I would be interested in a ‘floozy’, or why you would insinuate that I would refer to a woman in such a way. And as for Chrissy,” he gestured to the woman in the booth, who smiled and waved at Gillian, “I believe you haven’t met my sister.”

  Gillian’s jaw dropped, and she looked like the crutches weren’t going to provide nearly enough support. She might just topple to the floor with the weight of the blood that rushed to her throat and cheeks in humiliation. After several long seconds of glancing back and forth between him and his sister, Lucas watched Gillian snap her mouth closed. He was willing to bet she wanted to keep from saying anything else stupid.

  Of course, it was far too late to save face now. The rest of the patrons had kicked up a quiet murmur, and Lucas didn’t think they were talking about how delicious the fish was. Still, Gillian was going to try. Smiling with a hint of apology in her eyes, she turned to Chrissy. “I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding. It’s lovely to meet you.” She held out a hand, and Chrissy took it graciously. This was the sort of thing he loved about his sister, even though she had so many other problems that drove him mad.

  “You know, your brother’s quite a selfless guy,” Gillian continued, and now she was just going overboard. It was going to look bad on her, and the insincerity could make everyone question what kind of guy he actually was. “And he’s always got the answer for pretty much any situation.”

  Chrissy laughed out loud. Lucas stared at her as she actually threw her head back and guffawed, a sound he heard from her so rarely it was almost foreign. He loved that sound, and he couldn’t believe Gillian had just evoked it, especially after such a terrible social foul. But his sister shook her head. “Honey, if you think any of that is an act, you overestimate my brother’s talent. He’s not meant for Hollywood or Broadway.”

  Lucas wanted to end this conversation right now, but he couldn’t silence his sister. Chrissy continued in a calmer, more serious tone, “I’m very well aware of who my brother is, and obviously, so are you. Lucas is the most selfless, well-prepared, loving, kind, courteous, and reasonable person I know. And what’s excellent about him is that he has no idea just how beautiful he is, inside and out.”

  Now it was Lucas’s turn to blush. He did a lot for Chrissy, but he wasn’t used to her acknowledging it, especially in public. She’d said thank you once or twice in private, but that was the extent of her gratitude. His five-year-old niece, Shay, and his three-year-old nephew, Tyler, were very respectful and always thanked him for whatever he did, but Chrissy had a hard time with it. She must have been in a reflective mood tonight.

  Gillian stared at him, and Lucas couldn’t read her expression. There was something strange in her eyes he couldn’t place, and he felt nervous about it. “I’m sorry I intruded, and I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I suppose it wasn’t really my business anyway.”

  For a second, Lucas started to tell her otherwise, but then he remembered the public setting. He quickly changed directions and told her, “I accept your apology.” He nodded toward the table where he saw the Marshalls, Carrie hiding her face as if she was mortified and Roger attempting to hide a smile. “I see you came out with your family. How are your aunt and uncle?”

  She looked a little lost standing there, and Lucas took perverse pleasure in her discomfort for a few minutes. “Uncle Ro
ger’s fine. It was his idea to come eat here. We were both starving. Aunt Carrie is…” she trailed off, making a face. “I’m not sure what’s going on with her.”

  Lucas didn’t know the Marshalls well enough to comment on her overall mood or the reason for it, but he had a good idea about a couple of things that could be bothering her. Lou tended to be a flirt, and Carrie Marshall struck Lucas as the jealous type. And Roger tended to be so relaxed he probably flirted back naturally without knowing it.

  And just from what he knew of people, Lucas imagined Carrie had started to read her niece the riot act, and Gillian had quickly shut her down. On top of that, he could read the woman’s body language, and she was purposely turned away from her husband. He would have put money on Roger taking his niece’s side in that argument.

  “She’s probably as hungry as the two of you,” Chrissy chuckled, and Lucas gave her a look of gratitude for saving him when he had no idea how to respond. “I know that especially since I’ve gotten on a better diet plan, I get completely out of sorts if I’m too hungry.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Gillian conceded. “I guess I’ll leave the two of you alone now. I hope I haven’t ruined your evening. Enjoy the rest of it.” She turned to hobble away, but her left crutch caught on the table leg, and she nearly went flying.

  Lucas was out of his seat in an instant, grabbing her around the waist with one hand and catching the flying crutch with the other before it landed in Carl Gilmore’s cherry pie.

  It was a mistake.

  His body burned, reacting instantly to the feel of her against him once again. He couldn’t let her go, not because he didn’t trust her on her feet but because he would embarrass himself with the tent he was pitching. Pulling her tighter to him, he murmured in her ear, “If I thought you were some floozy, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing you back from the woods. Letting a useless being waste away or freeze to death would be doing the world a favor.”